XjECTTJie-E3 <D1<T TEXJk.S 



DELIVERED BY 



MR. J. DE CORDOVA, 



AT PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK, MOUNT HOLLY, BROOKLYN, AND NEWARK 



Also, a paper read by him before the 



NEW YORK GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, 



April 15th, 1858. 



"Texa?, — the Garden State of the Union." — The Wanderer. 




PHILADELPHIA: 

PRINTED BY ERNEST CROZET, THIRTEENTH AND MARKET STS 

1858. 



iF'ie-Ein'^OE. 



When these Lectures were wiillen and delivered, it was not my\ 
intention to publish them; but since some kind friends have( 
asserted that I have been preaching free-soil doctrines during my) 
visit to the North, and considering that the most effectual refutalioni 
of so grave a charge would be the publication of the entire lectures" 
as delivered by me this spring in New York, Philadelphia, Newark,, 
Brooklyn, and Mount Holly, I have determined to give to the world; 
this little volume. My enemies have now an opportunity to sub- 
stantiate their charges, — if they can; I defy the sharpest of them toi 
put hi- finger on a single sentence wuicn leans in the t^lighlesl dtgieec 
toward abolitionism. 

J, DE CORDOVA. 

Philadelpitta, May 22, 1858. 






LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:— 

I Avill offer uo apology for appearing before you, as I trust my remarks will en- 
lighten you somewhat on the rare iuduccments offered in Texas to our Northern 
fellow-citizens to emigrate to that State with a view of making it their future 
home- 

BOUXDARIES. 

The State of Texas is bounded on the north by New Mexico, Kansas, and Red 
River, which separates it from the Indian Territory ; on the east, by the States 
of Arkansas and Louisiana; on the south, by the Gulf of Mexico; on the west, 
by the Rio Grande, which separates it from the Mexican States, and the Territory 
of New Mexico. 

DIMEXSIONS. 

The great State of Texas stretches from twenty-five degrees and forty-five 
minutes to thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, and from sixteen 
degrees and twenty-eight minutes to twenty-nine degrees and forty-five minutes 
west longitude from Washington, — being nearly seven hundred miles from its north- 
ern to its southern extremity, and nearly eight hundred miles from its eastern to its 
western limits, — containing an area of 257,504: square miles, equal to 175,594,560 
acres of land, — equal to FIVE times the extent of the Staie of New York, and 
THREE times the size of the six New England States. 

DR. AxsoN Jones's deer-park. 

Soon after Dr. Anson Jones was inaugurated President of Texas, he paid Gal- 
veston a visit, when a cockney sjiortsman fresh from London obtained an intro- 
duction to the President, by whom he was most cordially invited to call on him at 
his residence if he visited the upper country. Emboldened by the urbanity of the 
President, the cockney ventured to request permission to be allowed to take a hunt 
in his DEER-PARK. The President smilingly assented, when the cockney, inquiring 
the extent of this famous deer-park, was informed that, with the exception of a 
few small spots reserved for special purposes, he would find that it extended from 
the Sabine River to the Rio Grande, ai-d from the Gulf of Mexico to the Rocky 
Mountains, being an area of more than 300,000 square miles. 

OUR residence in TEXAS. 

I have resided within her boundaries for nearly twenty years, and have there- 
fore had ample opportunities to observe her career, from before her separation from 
Mexico up to the present time. 

I was a witness of her struggle for independence, when her streams ran red 
with the blood of her patriots, in those days that imprinted upon the pages of 
her history the achievements of a Burleson, a Lamar, a Sherman, a McCuUoch, a 
Bell, a Hays, a Rusk, and a Houston. 

I was one of her citizens when she was a sovereign and independent nation; 
when the Lone Star of Texas waved proudly over that infant republic, whose course 
with giant steps was onward. Still did I cling to her when, her peojtle realizing 
the truth of the old adage, "in union there is strength," she magnanimously sur- 
rendered her position as an independent nation among the great powers of the 
oaith, and became a bright star in the glorious constellation of the American Union. 
From that hour to the present time, her glory and her prosperity have constituted 
the theme of my best thoughts, the goal of my best energies. 

Her prosperous career during the past affords an earnest that my dream of one 



4 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 

day beholding her the Empire State in enterprise and productions, as she now is in 
extent of territory, may be indulged with a reasonable hope of its realization. 

PUBLIC DEBT OF TEXAS AND HER ISSUES. 

When the people of Texas declared their independence, they were few in num- [ 
ber, and without a dollar in the public treasury. The obligations of the nation i; 
were given out for immense sums, on which but a small amount was realized, the ^^ 
Government being forced to pay them out at the rate of $6, $8, $10, and finally 
at $10 for one dollar in value : consequently, the public debt of Texas, at the date 
of ber annexation, amounted to over eleven millions of dollars. This debt has 
since been paid in full, with eight millions and a half of dollars. 

How diflferent has been the course of Texas from that of other countries! Our 
obligations are tied up in bundles in the vaults of the treasury, ca:ncelled ,• but the 
Continental money of the United States, and the assignats of France, are yet to > 
be found in the garrets and cellars of the descendants of those who confided in the ; 
integrity of the nations that issued them, — a mass of worthless rubbish. 

There is one point connected with the public debt of Texas which shows plainly; 
the character of the men to whom she intrusted the management of her public j 
aff"airs. Emerging from the state of anarchy and confusion generally attendant oni 
Mexican misrule, the country filled with adventurers, a new government to be or-- 
ganizcd, notwithstanding all these disadvantages, her accounts were kept withi 
such a degree of system and clearness that, when the time arrived for us to give in i 
an estimate of our debt preparatory to its settlement, our public officers furnished 1 
a statement of her indebtedness whose accuracy, when the claims were presented T 
for payment, was truly astonishing. , 

VOTERS AND POPULATION. 

The increase of population has been immense. In September, 1836, the whole 3 
number of voters within the limits of the State was 5,704, while in 1857 there were ' 
57,178. It will thus be seen that in the short space of twenty-one years, although i 
within that period she had to surmount Ihe trials and the difficulties attendant on i 
the establishment of a new Government, the increase of Texas in population! 
has been tenfold, — an increase unparalleled in the history of any other State, . 
except perhaps "Wisconsin and California. We may safely assume the present f 
population of Texas to be 550,000, And we are within bounds in saying that wej 
may reasonably expect an accession, during the ensuing year, of 100,000. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 

As Texas includes within her limits an immense region of country, she has a vast t 
diversity of soil and climate, and a description of one portion would not be appli- 
cable to the other. It is therefore necessary that I should give a passing sketch 
of the various portions of our State. 

At Trespalacio, near the coast, the elevation of the country is but six feet above 
the level of the ocean ; but as you travel to the north and west it becomes more 
elevated, particularly to the westward. The highest point within the limits of our 
State is on the road to El Paso, 5,896 feet. 

For about fifty miles in a westwardly direction from the coast, the land is gene- 
rally level, and, on the rivers and creek-bottoms, very rich, and admirably adapted 
to the cultivation of the sugarcane. The balance of the coast-lands are generally 
prairie, and therefore at present but little valued, and will continue so until the 
demand for sugar-lands becomes sufficiently great to warrant the introduction of a 
I)roper system of drainage, as in their present condition they are too fiat to allow 
the water to run off". 

After passing over the coast-eountry, we enter upon the rolling lands, which ■ 
are regarded as being best calculated for the culture of cotton. Here the white 
man may begin to cultivate the soil; yet we would prefer that he would bend 
his steps still farther into the interior, for every step that he takes to the north i 
and the west he will find the climate better adapted to his purposes. 

At about one hundred miles from the coast, you will come upen a region of 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 5 

country Avhieh, although it may be equalled, certainly cannot be excelled in fer- 
tility of 8oil and variety of production. 

The eastern portion of Texas is very heavily timbered; and so snon as we have 
the means of transporting to the rich prairies of the North and West the im- 
mense quantity of tiue pine lumber that that section of the State can produce, 
an immense trade will undoubtedly spring up. 

HRALTH. 

The farther north and west you go, the purer does the atmosphere liecome, and the 
better are the lands adapted to the cultivation of the cereals, the raising of sheep, 
and the purposes of a stock-farm. There the heat of summer is tempered by the 
delightful southern breeze, and the white laborer can perform more hard work 
than he could in any of the Western States. And so far as health is concerned, 
he need not fear those intermitting fevers, or even the fever and ague, so much to 
be dreaded in the Western countries. 

RATES OF IXTEREST AXD USTJRY. 

AVhere there is no special agreement, the rate of interest in Texas is eight per 
cent. ; but by special contract twelve per cent, is legal. 

On sales of lands on time, the rate stipulated is generally ten percent. On 
usurious contracts the whole interest is forfeited. 

EDUCATION. 

To show in what high estimation the advantages of education are held in our 
State, I would remark that one-tenth of the gross revenue of the State is dedi- 
cated to educational purposes. Besides this, an appropriation was made by the 
Legislature of 1855 of TWO MILLIONS of DOLLARS in the five per cent, stock 
of the United States; this, aided by the large grant of four leagues, amounting 
to 18,512 acres of land to each new county that is organized, has added to the 
Educational Fund over TWO MILLIONS AND A HALF OF ACRES OF LAND. 
With these resources, it is confidently believed that, within five years, Texas will 
mature the best system of free education ever developed by any State, — a system 
by which the advantages of education will be placed within the reach of every child 
within her borders. 

Besides this liberal grant of land and money for public schools, the State has do- 
nated a large amount of land to several colleges that have been established; and 
the immense amount of fifty leagues, equal to 221,400 acres of land, has been spe- 
cially approin-iated for the endowment of a State University. 

Besides this, private enteri:)rise has kept pace with the noble eiforts of our infant 
State ; and we can point with pride to the many excellent institutions of learning 
established on a firm basis within her limits, such as 

The Baylor University, at Independence ; 

The Texas Monumental and Military Institute, at Ruttjrville; 

The Live Oak Seminary, at Gay Hill; 

The Guadalupe High School, at Seguin ; 

The Austin College, at Huntsville; 

The Gonzales College, at Gonzales; 

The St. Mary's University; and 

The College of the Immaculate Conception, at Galveston. 

RELIGIOUS DENOMIXATIONS. 

As regards religion in Texas, churches are to be found in every portion of the 
State ; and I regret that I cannot speak on the subject with the fulness which its 
importance dem inds. 

Catholic churches are to be found at Galveston, Houston, New Braunfels, San 
Antonio, Nacogdoches, and several other towns. There are two cathedrals in the 
State, — the old cathedral at San Antonio — an ancient and venerable-looking 
building, more than two hundred years old, having been erected on the introduc- 
tion of Christianity witliin the region of country now known as the Statj of Texas — 



6 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 

and the new cathedral at Galveston, which is a large and magnificent structure 
of brick, whose towering steeples are the first objects that greet the eye of the 
mariner as he approaches Galveston. The Right Rev. Bishop J. M. Odin, a ripe 
scholar and a highly-talented gentleman, presides over this bishopric, and to his 
exertions are we mainly indebted for the establishment of several first-class institu- 
tions of learning. 

The Old-School Presbyterian Church has one synod, consisting of four Presby- 
teries, FIFTY-THREE churches, FOKTY-TiiREE resident ministers, and twelve hun- 
dred AND SIXTY-ONE members under its jurisdiction. 

The Cumberland Presbyterians are very numerous, and have nearly one hundred 
ministers located in various portions of the State. 

The Episcopal churches, with such talented clergymen as Eaton, Gillett, and 
Fontaine, are respectably attended. 

The Baptists have established numerous churches at various points, are well 
supplied with ministers, are in a prosperous condition, and have established two 
institutions of learning. 

The Methodist denomination are very numerous. They are to be found in 
every section of our State, from the populous town on the sea-board to the extreme 
frontier settlement. They are sure to be the first to establish their camp-grounds 
on the outskirts of civilization. Often have we met these soldiers of the cross, 
armed with their trusty rifles and pistols to protect themselves from the savage 
Indians, on the extreme frontier, wending their way to some distant appoint- 
ment, as ready to oifer spiritual comfort and consolation as to assist the hardy pio- 
neer in protecting his fireside. 

Nor has this denomination been careless with respect to the subject of education, 
as is evidenced by the establishment of the following institutions of learning: — 

The Andrew's Female College, at Huntsville ; 

The Bastrop Male and Female Academy, at Bastrop; 

The Fowler's Institute, at Henderson; 

The Gilmer Female College, at Gilmer; 

The McKenzie Institute, near Clarkesville; 

The Paine Institute, at Goliad; 

The Paris Female Institute, at Paris; 

The Soule University, at Chappell Hill; 

The Stiirrville Female College; and 

Tlie Waco College, at Waco. 
This denomination has divided the State into ten districts, to which there are 
appropriated one hundred and fifteen missions, of which nine are German and 
TWELVE are African. 

This denomination have established two periodicals at the city of Galveston. 
The first of these — the Christian Advocate, weekly — has an extensive circulation, 
which it richly deserves, being ably conducted; the second — The German Apolo- 
gist, anoth ?r weekly — has a rapidly-increasing circulation. 

There are Lutheran churches established at the following points, — Galveston, 
Houston, Quihi, Castroville, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Fredericksbui-g, Indepen- 
dence, Brenham, Bastrop, Victoria, Columbus and Austin, — in all of which churches 
the service is performed in the German language. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

As regards Sunday-schools, they are — as they should be — a popular institution 
in Texas. There is scarcely a village, no matter how humble it may be, which has 
not its Sunday-school, conducted by energetic and prompt teachers and well 
attended by the rising generation. 

MASONRY. 

The members of the Masonic body are very numerous, and are to be found even 
on the extreme frontiers. The Grand Lodge op Ancient York Masons has two 
hundred subordinates working under her jurisdiction, and the Grand Encampment 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 7 

and Grand Chapter have each a number of subordinates established under thei 
respective jurisdictions. 

ODD-FELLOWSHIP. 

Durinj? the early days of the late republic, Odd-Fellowship was introduced. The 
Ghand Lodge op the Lvdependent Order of Odd-Fellows was established 
in the summer of 1832, and has now under her jurisdiction sixty-six subordinate 
Lodf^es. The Encampment branch of this Order has recently received a great im- 
petus, and is rapidly extending its influence. 

BANKS. 

The only bank within the limits of our State is the Commercial and Agricul- 
tural Bank at Galveston, which has l»een in operation since the year 1841, under 
a charter from the Government of Coahuila and Texas, and is one of the fcAv banks 
in the United States that has never suspended specie-payments, owing to the judi- 
cious manner in Avhich it is managed. The Constitution of our State prohibits 
the establishment of any new banks; therefore the only banks we can boast of are 
those established bj' the God of Nature, — such as the banks of the Brazos, the 
(luadalupe, and the Colorado. These are banks that no panic can injure: no run 
upon them can cause any alarm; the widow and the orphan need fear no stoppage, 
for their Director is above all suspicion ; all that is necessary to insure large and 
certain dividends in the shape of wheat, rye, corn or cotton is that the necessary 
deposits be made at the proper season. 

comparison op the north with TEXAS. 

As I walk through the streets of your busy and enterprising but over-peopled 
Northern cities, and, with the speed of the wind, fly along your immense lines of 
railroad, that cover the country from Boston Harbor to the Mississippi River with 
one vast network of iron bands, — as I tread the decks of your majestic steamers 
that ply upon j^our noble rivers and lakes, and look out upon the pleasing pano- 
rama of thriving cities, prosperous villages, well-cultivated farms and towering 
manufacturing-establishments, and reflect that the power of enterprise has wrought 
all these wonderful results in this high northern latitude, where spring and autumn 
are swallowed up by winter, and Avhere the husbandman is compelled to labor 
incessantly during the whole of the biief summer to carry his family and stock 
safely through the approaching winter, — I can but wish that this Archimcdian 
power might be brought to bear on the broad, flower-decked prairies of my 
own State of Texas, where Nature, with a bountiful hand, has scattered her choicest 
blessings of climate, of soil and of position. 

Let but the stimulus of the enterprise, industry and genius which have trans- 
formed the sterile rocks of New England into one vast workshop where the wants 
of half the world are supplied, and her frozen hai'bors into havens from which 
go forth great fleets of merchant-ships whose sails whiten every ocean, — let but 
that stimulus be felt upon the natural resources of the great State of Texas, and 
the time will not be far distant when her splendid cities, her commerce, her 
agricultural productions, her railroads, her telegraphs, her schools, her social 
relations and her people might challenge the world without fear of finding a 
successful competitor. 

While I entertain no doubt that such will be the case at no very remote period, 
I do not desire to be understood as asserting that, in its present condition, Texas 
is free from the difficulties and hardships attendant upon a frontier life. 

labor. 

Although Nature has been very bountiful to Texas, and though many portions 
of our State equal in beauty and fertility any thing that the imagination can pic- 
ture, still, to make these localities suitable for the habitation of man, labor and 
enterprise are absolutely necessary. In the remote sections of our State, all the 
appliances of civilized life are required to be supplied by the hand of art, — which 
ofcourse involves patient industry and labor. 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 



But then your labor will not be thrown away. So easily are lands to be acquired 
by the industrious and enterprising settler within the State of Texas, that no man 
of sober habits and sound moral principles need labor long for others, since he 
can soon acquire an interest in the soil of the country, when every blow he 
strikes is a step onward in building up a home for his wife and his children. And 
what can confer upon the laboring man more real gratification than the possession 
of a home that he can call his own, — free from the iron rule of the exacting land- 
lord, who through caprice or cupidity may deprive him at almost any moment, 
without notice, of the shelter he is occupying ? 

It must be conceded that the most independent station in life is that of the man 
who is free from debt, and who owns the soil that he cultivates. Trade may desert 
a man, money may take to itself wings, and the most accomplished financier may 
fail : but the attentive farmar, on the rich lands of Texas, will indeed seldom, if 
ever, fail to produce a sufficiency to serve the purposes of his family. The farmer 
is the true nobleman : he can with his own hand produce meat, drink, clothing, 
and the comforts — nay, luxuries — of life. If he be intelligent and industrious, he 
is more independent than a king. The soil of Texas always nobly responds to 
the labor bcstowedupon it. 

While upon the subject of home, I take great pleasure in informing you that in 
Texas, by a wise provision of the Constitution, no family can be stripped of all it 
possesses. No ! Such a case cannot occur within the limits of the State of Texas. 
Two hundred acres of land, your tools of trade, your horse and saddle, one year's 
provisions for your family, together with a reasonable amount of household-furni- 
ture, are exempt from execution. 

MODE OP TRAVEL. 

Persons residing near the sea-board, who may wish to emigrate to Texas, will 
find ample facilities for doing so, there being three regular lines to Galveston, 
and one to Port Lavaca, from New York, and a line from Boston to Galveston, 
besides a large number of transient vessels from Baltimore, Philadelphia and New 
York. 

POINTS TOWARD WHICH TO DIRECT YOUR FOOTSTEPS. 

The most suitable regions for the immigrant are the upper Avaters of the Brazos, 
Colorado, Guadalupe or Red Rivers, where the country is rolling, the water pure, 
the atmosphere salubrious and invigorating, and Avhere the hills afford a fine range 
for cattle, horses, sheep and hogs, with plenty of excellent building-stone. 

GOOD ADVICE TO IMMIGRANTS. 

The immigrants from the older States, with a limited capital, upon their arrival 
in a new country, are often at a loss how to invest their little means so as to 
make it remunerative in a short time. They arc naturally anxious to become in- 
dependent; and many of them I'ush headlong into extensive land-speculations, 
which sometimes prove disastrous, because they have not made judicious selec- 
tions, have locked up their capital too soon, and are forced to realize, perhaps 
at a moment when there are no buyers in the market. Anxiety of mind, personal 
inconvenience, and perhaps ruin, are the results. Instead of this, it is clearly to 
their interest to settle doAvn and become substantial farmers. Before proceeding 
further, we would sai'iously impress upon the minds of all, that, although our State 
presents great attractions to those who immigrate with an intention to make a 
proper use of their energies, — altfeough Texas is the finest State in the Union, audi 
may be literally regarded as a " land flowing with milk and honey," — it is neces- 
sary for them to milk the cows and gather the honey before they can enjoy cither 
the one or the other: neither can be obtained without labor. Therefore, those who 
arrive here under the impression that th jy are about to realize a fortune without 
working will soon find out that Texas is not the country they supposed it to be. 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 9 

ON PURCHASING LAND. 

Select a body of land yourself, after thoroughly examining it, such as will 
exactly suit your own views. Do not purchase too large a tract of land: this is 
the rock upon which too many emigrants split. For a man of moderate moans, 
sixty or eighty acres will be quite sufficient; although, where a man has the actual 
capital to invest, without crippling his farming-operations, he may purchase one 
hundred and sixty or three hundred and twenty acres ; but rarely is it advisable 
to take over six hundred and forty acres at once. 

One fact that I would impress upon the minds of all immigrants to Texas is, 
that it is not necessary to purchase much more land than is required for building, 
and for the purposes of cultivation ; for it should be borne in mind that our prairies 
are as free to the stock of the man who owns forty acres as to that of him who 
owns forty thousand. 

LOOK WELL TO YOUR FAMILY COMFORTS. 

After you have selected a tract of land suitable for your purposes, let your ener- 
gies be directed to making your family comfortable by providing a suitable house 
for it. If you do not, the females of your household will be the sufferers ; sick- 
ness may follow, and thus calamity overtake you at the outset. 

This will prove but too true unless men, on their first arrival in Texas, are con- 
siderate enough to shield the female portion of their families from the trials and 
the privations always attendant on making a settlement in a new country, especially 
during the first year; for notwithstanding the beautiful picture sometimes drawn 
by land-speculators of the delights of a home in the Far West, it is no light task 
to win a home from the wilderness in any country, even though it boast of the 
finest prairie-lands. And in these cases no one suffers more than the female emi- 
grant, especially if she has been tenderly brought up; for those who have been 
unused to labor in the home of their childhood will find it a hard matter to com- 
mence on their arrival in a new country. 

MR. AND MRS. THOMPSON : LOOK ON THIS PICTURE, AND THEN ON THIS. 

If you do not attend to this advice, you may be placed in a predicament similar 
to that of a Scottish friend of mine who had settled upon the extreme frontier, and 
who, in consequence of his over-anxiety to get in a large crop, had neglected to 
furnish his wife with the comforts that he ought to have provided, and among 
ather things had forgotten to drive up a few cows, enough to supply the family 
with milk and butter. It chanced that a countryman of his, while passing through 
Texas, looking for a suitable locality to settle in, thought he would pass tlie 
3vening with his old Scottish friends. He was most cordially received by both 
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and the time passed very agreeably, talking of old 
scenes and olden times, until they were all seated around the frugal supjier- 
Lable. Now, it had always been the custom of good Mrs. Thompson, at her old 
home in Ayrshire, to treat her visitors to the richest cream, the sweetest of 
cutter, excellently-prepared broiled chicken, pickles and preserves, served up 
in her neatly-furnished room. The absence of all these, and the mortification 
if having only corn dodgers, salt fried bacon, and coffee without milk, together 
with the sparsely-furnished apartment, were sources of great annoyance to Mrs. 
Thompson ; and when her visitor inquired how she liked Texas, she, not being 
in the most amiable humor, answered, ''Lor, man, Texas is an awfu' fine kintra, 
I braw and bonnie kintra, nae doot, — a vera fine kintra for men and hogs; but for 
ivomen and oxen it is the vera de'il." 

It is, however, but justice to Mrs. Thompson to state that, before a single year 
lad rolled around, our friend, being on a visit to the Thompsons, jokingly in- 
][uired of her if she had altered her opinion respecting Texas, when she smilingly 
-eplied, "'Deed that ba'e I: Sandie has made a thorough-gaun convairt o' me, an' 
['m sure I'm mair enthusiastic aboot Texas this day than ever he was." On rejiair- 
ng to the neatly-furnished room for the evening meal, the guest soon found out the 
'ause of this great change in her opinions. The supper-table now presented in 



10 J. DE COKDOVA'S LECTURE. 

great abundance the broiled chickens, the rich cream, the fresh butter, the pickles, 
the preserves, and the numerous little etceteras with which the thrifty housewife 
had been accustomed to grace her table in Auld Scotia. 

Thus it will be seen how important it is for a man to attend to the little 
details which contribute so much toward making home comfortable. 

TO THE FARMER. 

To the industrious FARMER I can safely say that Texas offers great induce- 
m3uts, — inducements far superior to those presented by any other State in the 
Union. Thousands and tens of thousands of you can select your future homes \ 
in Texas. There is plenty of room, and, with a moderate share of industry, you 
cannot fail to do well. 

Within the limits of our State are millions of acres of as rich lands as can be 
found in the world, — the Delta of the Nile not excepted, — which require but a 
small share of the labor usually bastowed upon the half worn-out lands in the 
older States to yield a rich return. Besides this, the farmer will find a market 
at his own door for every article raised, at remunerative prices, with the certainty 
of receiving the cash. 

So great is the fertility of our soil that we can produce, YEAR AFTER YEAR,: 
upon the SAME LAND, the SAME CROPS, without the aid of manure. But to 
this improvident mode of farming it is not necessary to resort, as the list of articles 
that can be profitably cultivated in Texas is much larger and moi*e varied than 
that of any of our sister States. 

CULTIVATION OF SUGAR. 

The coast-lands, particularly those of the counties of Brazoria, Matagorda,i 
Colorado and Wharton, are admirably adapted to the cultivation of SUGAR. 
These lands, for their adaptation to the culture of the CANE, are unrivalled out- 
side of the tropics. The cane, having six weeks longer to mature than in Loui- 
siana, becomes far richer in saccharine matter, producing a much greater yield of 
light-coloured, coarse-grained, rich and clean-flavored sugar. 

It is ti-ue that it is only the man of large means who can successfully open and 
cultivate a sugar-plantation, for the immense outlay of capital required prevents) 
men of ordinary means from embarking in this business. But the cultivation of 
this article in ordinary seasons is very profitable; and it is a well-established' 
fact that on sugar-estates, although the labor is far heavier than that of any other 
agricultural pursuit, the operatives enjoy better health and live longer than the 
average. 

CONSUMPTIVE PERSONS. 

Indeed, a consumptive person is scarcely ever to be found among the operatives ja 
on a sugar-plantation; and those who have unfortunately the seeds of this in- 
sidious disease implanted in their system generally find immense relief on visitinjj 
the sugar-estates during the boiling-season, and are sometimes radically cured, 
although in such cases Dr. Bolus or Dr. Moore obtains the credit, instead of the 
gases and steam emanating from the caldron of boiling cane-juice. ;« 

CULTIVATION OF WHEAT. I'' 

At the first glance it may appear strange to my hearers that in the present con- igi 
dition of the State of Texas I should affirm that the day is not far distant when |1( 
the production of Avheat will be of far greater importance than that of either sugai 
or cotton, and, in all moral probabilitj^, of both articles combined ; but it must b< ) 
kept in mind that the soil and climate of the north and northwestern portions o: 
our State are peculiarly adapted to wheat-growing, and that section of count r;^ 
will be peopled by an immense number of immigrants whose means are limited, anc 
who are dependent upon the labor of their own hands, with a few favored ones whc 
can afford to buy two or three slaves. 

The adaptation of the soil and climate of Northern and Northwestern Texas t( 
the production of wheat is no longer a matter of doubt. Ample testimony has thi; 
season been produced, in the shape of thousands of bushels raised in that soctioi 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 11 

if the State, — far more than will be required by the inhabitants and the immense 
lumber of immijirants now flocking in. 

In June last wheat could have been bought in the neighborhood of Bonham, in 
?'annin county, at sixty cents per Imshel; and it is probable that the whole crop 
>f those who required money could have been purchased for fifty cents per bushel, 
L price lower than it could be (ibtained at in any other part of the world; yet so 
lasily cnn this article be produced and prepared for market that farmers are grcw- 
ng rich by cultivating it for sale at these low prices. 

Under these circumstances, all that is necessary to increase the cuItivaMon of 
vheat in that section of country is, that proper facilities for transportation in the 
hape of railroads be furnished, w^hen the quantity raised will be increased a thou- 
andfold. As a wheat-growing country we have two decided advantages over any 
ithor, and these are, the early period at which our crop comes to maturity, and the 
veight of the grain. 

In ordinary years our wheat is ready for the mill early in June; and, when the 
ailroad is completed, the facilities furnished to push the crops at once to an early 
narket will insure a handsome profit to the farmer, for a far higher rate Avill be 
)aid for fresh-ground, sweet flour than for that made from old wheat in Missouri 
Lud Ohio, which at this season of the year loses much of its sweetness and is 
mly used because better cannot be obtained. 

Besides, what is not wanted for home-consumption would be readily taken for the 
European and West India markets, whither it could be easily shipped by this road 
Galveston. 

INDIAN CORN, OR MAIZE. 

There is no other portion of the continent of America where Indian corn can be 
aised so readily as in Western Texas. The fact is, so easily have some of our 
armers realized a fair yield on the black rich soil of Western Texas, that few, very 
ew, have really made a proper effort to treat mother earth with any degree of fair- 
less, by properly preparing the soil before planting Experience has fully esta- 
)lisbed the fact that the correct mode of proceeding with our prairie-lands is first 
plough them very shallow ; the shallower the turf is broken, provided the roots 
if the grass are cut, the better, because by their exposure to the sun and air they 
ot, and thus enrich the land; besides which, the second ploughing, which should 
)e DEEP, can be done with the same team, and to a greater depth, leaving the land 
n a better condition for the harrows Let it be borne in mind that if the ground is 
rell prepared by deep ploughing, nay. subsoiling, where time will permit, and with 
leep planting, the crop is more than half made when it is put in. 

In after-cultivation, the wing-scraper, or cultivator, should alone be used, and 
LS lightly as possible, for such is the nature of our lands and the rapidity of vege- 
ation on them that corn-plants here throw cut fewer roots than they do in the 
STorthern States. 

We have no spare roots to cut in cultivation. Besides, the winds in the spring and 
luring the major part of the summer are of a very drying character, and the 
iioisture will soon be dissipated from that portion of the soil that is not deeply 
sloughed. 

Corn should be planted in such a manner that there should be between six and 
even thousand stocks on an acre, — no more ; because the growth of the stocks and 
eaves is more luxuriant with us than in the North. 

PUMPKINS AND SQUASHES. 

As regards pumpkins and squashes, their size and quality would make the 
fiearts of even the thrifty housewives of New England rejoice; for vines grow with 
uch uncommon rapidity that pumpkins and melons often attain such a size that 
0* the madam" is obliged to invoke the aid of Sambo to carry them home for use. 

CULTIVATION OF THE VINE, AND MANUFACTURE OF WINE. 

Our hill-sides are admirably adapted to the cultivation of the vine, and even now 
%li)e is made from the native grape which closely resembles the Catalonia, exten- 



12 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE; 

sively used in the manufacture of port wine. The settlement of a few hundred 
vine-dressers in our mountainous district would be but the commencement of an 
immense immigration of that class of population, for their success would be so great 
that thousands of their countrymen would flock to a region where they would be 
certain of realizing comparative wealth in a short time. All that this branch of 
business requires is, that it should be commenced by a man of enterprise and 
means. It would require nothing more than diligence and perseverance to place 
this branch of industry foremost in the ranks of Texian productions in point of 
value, to say nothing of the amount of brandy, pure brandy, that could be dis- 
tilled out of the poorer class of wines. 

CULTIVATION OF COTTON. 

We can plant cotton earlier in the gi'eater portion of our State than is usual in; 
other cotton-growing districts. It is not so subject to casualties as that of othei 
States, and comes to perfection much earlier. 

A cotton-plantation does not require the enormous outlay requisite for a sugar -r 
plantation, although during the picking-season the labor is constant. Besides, the 
planting of cotton and the raising of wheat may be prosecuted successfully on one 
and the same farm, since the seasons for cultivating these two crops are differenti 
and one will interfere but little, if any, with the other, and both can be well at-^ 
tended to by the industrious farmer. 

With but an ordinary share ot cultivation, our lands will yield from 500 to 75C! 
pounds of clean cotton to the acre, the quality of which is very superior for heavj; 
fabrics, and if properly handled will command from one-half to one cent per pounci 
in the European market. 

As regards the silk cotton, the first crop raised in Texas, consisting of 5 bales- 
was sent to the Galveston market by David Randon, Esq., residing on the Brazoi 
River, in Fort Bend County, on the 29th of November, 1856, and was sold by 
Messrs. R. & D. Mills, of Galveston, at the handsome price of twenty cents pei 
pound. 

In my garden in Houston, I tried the experiment of raising sea-island cottor 
and met with perfect success. Its growth was very luxuriant, and its product i\ 
beautiful white silky and long staple article. 



The lovers of the fragrant weed will doubtless be gratified to learn that tobacco 
of very superior quality for smoking-purposes is easily raised in Texas. 

Although we are far from having exhausted the long list of articles that can bi 
produced by proper cultivation in this section of the State, we must turn our atten j^ 
tion to other subjects, merely remarking that there are many — very many — sourcei | 
of wealth and enjoyment that will be developed as this portion of the country ii[^ 
explored, all of which will tend to advance not only individual prosperity, bu L 
our national greatness. Ij, 

MILLET. 

Millet should be sown early in March. This article is esteemed one of thi 
very best for feeding horses, oxen, milch-cows and sheep during the winter months 
The yield is very heavy : so productive has it been found, that in many regions o 
the State it nearly supersedes the use of fodder. Rye, oats and barley, whereve 
they have been tried, do well. 



SWEET POTATOES. 

The sweet potato is raised with little or no labor, and, when planted oi 
new ground, produces a first-quality article in great abundance. They are mostl; 
planted from the draw, which, with ordinary care, can be commenced early ii 
April; and the planting of draws and vines may be kept up until the 1st of Au 
gust. In point of flavor, quality and yield they will rival those of the Jerseys o 
Caroliuas. 



[ 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 13 

ROOT-CROPS. 

No country this side of California can surpass our State in the production of 
urnips, carrots, parsnips, beets, and other root-crops ; and with ordinary care '* the 
;ood dame" can raise every kind of vegetables in the greatest perfection. 

PEACHES. 

As yet but little has been done in the way of orchards, although some few farmers 
lave raised peaches in great abundance and of large size and fine flavor. In my 
garden, when I resided in the city of Houston some few years ago, I raised peaches 
hat measured nine and one-half inches in circumference and weighed nine and a 
juarter ounces. 

GRAPE AND MULBERRY. 

The grape and mulberry are here to be found growing spontaneously in the 
greatest perfection, — a proof that wine and silk will one day be commodities of ex- 
.ensive export. All that is necessary is that that class of emigrants who are well 
rersed in the cultivation and manufacture of these articles should settle up this 
50untry, which certainly holds out extraordinary inducements to them. 

VANILLA BEAN. 

A species of the vanilla bean grows wild here. Why cannot this fact induce some 
)ne to pay attention to its cultivation, which certainly would be profitable ? 

OTHER PRODUCTIONS OP TEXAS. 

Those who after a hard day's ride have tasted a cup of refreshing tea made from 
he common yaupou-tree will certainly prefer it to the infusion of the article known 
n commerce as low-priced teaj although we do not pretend to say that it is to be 
jompared to a dish of real Souchong or Hyson tea. 

The Chili or Cayenne pepper grows wild, as also a species of bastard indigo. 

There are several varieties of the cactus to be met with in Texas ; and we would 
lot be astonished, at no far-distant day, to open one of the blanket-newspapers of 
;he North and find an advertisement of a fresh lot of Texas cochineal for sale. 

FLORA IN NORTHERN AND NORTHWESTERN TEXAS. 

In the north and northwestern portions of Texas, after leaving the stately and 
nagnificent forests of the Cross Timbers, we come upon the rich prairie-lands, gar- 
aished with an endless variety of flowers. Strange indeed must it appear to the 
aewly-arrived immigrant to find here the highly-prized dahlia, the luxury of whose 
possession in the Northern States and Europe is confined almost exclusively to the 
ashionable and the wealthy : here they grow wild, and are passed by our people 
(vith as little notice as though they were common daisies. 

The water-lily, the beautiful Indian plume, the trumpet-flower, the violet, the 
(vax-apple, the multiflora, and other varieties of the rose family, are here to be met 
with in great profusion, as well as the jonquil and honeysuckle; nay, even the 
byacinth can be found on our prairies ; while the primrose is to be had in endless 
rariety to add to the bouquet which you may here cull to present to your lady-lovo 
tvhile travelling over a region of country covered by that strange and interesting 
plant, the bashful mimosa, which, as it is crushed under the hoofs of your horse, 
regales your olfactory nerves with a perfume rivalling in delicacy the finest aroma 
jf the richest Turkish attar of rose. 

As regards the berry family, they are to be found in the greatest abundance and 
perfection, as also the plum, — which here grows wild and is very fine, plainly indi- 
3ating that the stone-fruit of the North, under ordinary cultivation, could be most 
successfully produced. In fact, we hardly know how to speak of the difi"erent arti- 
3les which this favored region of country can be made to produce. So varied are 
they that persons who have never visited this section of our State might suspect 
that we were drawing upon our imagination. 

Side by side you can grow cotton and wheat. Tobacco and barley, flax, hemp 
and upland rice, we are satisfied, can be successfully raised, — as we find here grow- 
ing in wild luxuriance a species of each of these articles. 



14 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURR 

TEXAS AS A GRAZING-COUNTRY. 

Texas is emphatically a grazing-country, and it would be invidious in us to de- 
signate any one spot as presenting superior advantages over the rest of the Statejtj 
for stock-raising purposes; yet we will venture to remark that the region of country 
watered by the Colorado River and its tributaries is pre-eminently adapted to this! 
business. The cattle appear to grow larger and fatter, and to come to maturity] 
at least one year sooner, than they do in the southern counties; that is to say, 
beeves of three years old are here as heavy as those of four years old in the lower 
counties. 

As regards the expense of handling and taking care of cattle, a great deal depends 
upon the locality. As a matter of course, if stock be kept within close bounds, and,: 
by strict attention and close herding, be accustomed to graze on a limited area,i 
the care of them will be attended with less trouble and expense than if permitted^ 
to roam at large: in the latter case the labor of gathering is immense, to say no-i 
thing of the large percentage that is lost. 

In many States cattle are raised and fattened merely as the means of marketing; 
the productions of the farms, which are too remote for the transportation of hay; 
and grain. 

From the Patent Office reports, we find that in Wisconsin it costs to raise a steer/ 
until he arrives at the age of three years, $8 ; in Tennessee, from $7i to $8 ; whilei 
in Connecticut the cost is $30. These estimates, it is presumed, include only thc' 
actual cost of grain and fodder fed away, and not labor or the interest on the invest- 
ment : the latter is a very important item, when we consider the immense diflFerence 
between the outlay necessary for stock in Connecticut and that recpiired in Texas,'^ 

In Texas, where farmers attend personally to their own stock, it is a well-attested^ 
fact, which, wonderful as it may appear, is susceptible of proof, that a cow can be 
raised at less cost (leaving labour out of the account) than a chicken in any other 
State. 

But where you have to employ bands to take care of your stock, a great dealii] 
will depend upon the locality. Let us see, however, what the cost of a four-year- 
old beef would be, provided the owner did not wish to be at any trouble and waft 
compelled to borrow the capital at 10 per cent, interest per annum: — 

Interest for 4 years on the cost of the mother cow at 10 per cent. 

per annum $0 60 

Cost of marking and branding 1 00 

Cost of gathering and selling. 1 00 

Interest on amount paid for branding 40 

Cost of corn, millet, oats and fodder 00 

Cost of salt 10 

Total cost $3 10 

Thus it will be seen that, allowing the highest rate for interest and labor, thf 
whole expense of raising a four-year-old beef in Texas does not exceed $3 10, i 
while the butchers will pay on an average $16 apiece, hemember, too, that thii i 
is grass-fed beef, which, for nutriment and flavor, is far superior to the Northerr 
stall-fed beef, leaving out of view the unhealthy meat furnished by those who arc | 
in the habit of feeding with distillery-wash. 

SHEEP-KAISrNG. 

Sheep-raising in Texas is one of the most profitable occupations in which a pru- 
dent and careful farmer can engage. None but the industrious and prudent oughl 
to engage in this business, since to make it profitable it requires attention, — strict 
attention ; but that attention can be bestowed upon it by such members of the 
family as are incapable of the ordinary hard labor of the farm. The description o: 
sheep best calculated for our climate is the Merino stock, which can be improvec 
by judicious crossing, so as eventually to yield the finest quality of wool. 

The most of our stock at present is the Mexican native sheep, improved, however 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 15 

y judicious crossing; and the wool produced by them generally commands about 
5 cents per pound in an unwashed state. 

The mountainous districts of our State hav^e proved themselves admirably adapted 
shocp-raising. 

There is one point, however, which those who endeavor to raise sheep upon our 
ieh mez<iuite prairie-lands should guard against, and that is over-feeding. In the 
leighborhood of Seguin we had a flock of about tliree hundred sheep which looked 
Q line health and were very fat. Tfaey commenced dying, two or three each day, 
,ad to our surprise we fuuud it was those that were in the best order that died so 
uddenly. In such cases medical aid was of no avail ; but, thanks to Col. Clark L. 
)wen, of Texanna, we found a remedy, and after the first week we did not lose a 
ingle animal. It was simply to keep them in the pen until ten o'clock A. M. and 
o be sure to pen them again by five P. M., the sole cause of their mortality having 
een over-feeding. The pastures, being very rich, had produced in them a fatal 
orm of dyspepsia. 

A friend engaged in sheep and stock raising has kindly furnished us with the 
bllowing as the result of his first year's experience. He invested in lands, fenced 
nd broke up the prairie for cultivation, purchased the oxen, mules and farming- 
itensils, built a small house and furnished it in a suitable manner for a prudent 
md economical fiirmcr, paid for a flock of 1000 head of half-blooded sheep, together 

th the necessary rams of full blood, provided himself with 200 head of cattle, 
>aid the wages of his shepherds and ftirm-hands, and the interest upon the capital 
le used, the whole amount expended being $7800, — out of which he realized at 
he end of the first year $4418. besides his living, without reducing his original 
tock. 

Where is there a country or a business that will pay a better percentage than 
his? — although not every emigrant can make so large an investment as the above. 
iTet even on a more moderate scale stock and sheep raising will be found to be a 
v^ery i)rofita])le business, particularly' if parties are satisfied with the proceeds realized 
'rom the sale of the surplus male cattle, and will add to their stock year by year 
he female portion of the increase, the result — from no matter how small a begin- 
ling — would be almost incredible, at the eud of ten years, to a person unacquainted 
nith Texas. 

To show that every small farmer ought to endeavor to raise a flock of sheep, we 
^•ive the experience of Mr. Thomas McGee, which is as follows: — A friend sent one 
)f his children in 1847, as a present, a ram and ewe lamb, and, in 1850, another 
3we lamb was given her. In the spring of the year 185G, their stock consisted of 
34 sheep, and they had used in that time tkn ; besides, several lambs were killed 
through negligence by the hogs and dogs ; but one, the old ewe, having died of a 
latural cause during the whole period. There is no doubt that the wool amply 
epaid them for all their trouble.* 

HORSES AND MULES. 

The raising of horses and mules is a very lucrative business in Texas. To con- 
luct this business properly, it is necessary that the finest-formed Spanish mares 
ihould be procured, and that none but first-class animals be allowed to run with 
haul. The man who really understands the horse is sure to realize a fortune. The 
)nly objection to this business is the length of time which must elapse before you 
ire reimbursed, it generally being from four to five ye.ars before your young ani- 
uals are sufficiently matured to sell for work-.animals ; but, when you once begin 
o sell, your returns are both large and certain. 

HOGS. 

In the upper and lower Cross Timbers, and on the waters of the Yegua. immense 
Jroves of hogs can be raised and fattened, without any expense, on the fine mast 
xlfcrded by those regions of country. There are at this time hundreds of persons 
•vho are doing well in this business with very little labor, and so great is the demand 
m the produce of this animal in our State, that it is impossible to have a super- 

* Sec note No. 1. 



16 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE 

abundance, notwithstanding that the region of country adapted to hog-raising is so 
very extensive. In addition to the immense amount raised within the limits of the 
State, we import a large amount from New Orleans. 

LABOR ATTENDANT OX OPENING A NEAV FARM, 

The most severe labor attendant on opening a new farm is the breaking up of the* 
raw prairie. We have heard of p.arties who have broken up our prairie-lands witht 
two yoke of steers, — nay, a single team of horses; and although this, to our know- 
ledge, is a fact in some few isolated spots, yet those who assert this as a rule are* 
very much mistaken in their calculations, for as a general thing our lands requirei 
a team of five yoke of oxen, which, with a plough that will cut fourteen inches, 
will effectually break up on an average an acre and a half a day. This work oughti 
to be done during the months of May, June, July and August, if possible, so thati 
the heavy coating of grass with which the prairies are covered may be properly, 
rotted in the spring. 

This land ought to remain in the condition in which the plough leaves it until I 
the end of February or beginning of March, the season when farmers commencec 
active operations. 

TO TEACHERS. 

To teachers, both male and female, who are competent to teach what they pro-- 
fess, there are many openings. Texians are alive to the advantages attendant oni 
a sound practical system of education ; but as yet there are not many professors s 
needed; what she wants is a body of intelligent teachers who are able and willing,^ 
to impart the rudiments of a plain English education. 

TO MECHANICS. 

To mechanics, who thoroughly understand their business, and are of those trades^ 
that the wants of a new country require, we say come on; you will do well, for all! 
who are willing to work are liberally remunerated. 

TO MERCHANTS AND CLERKS. 

As regards merchants and clerks, there are openings left for those who are ready, 
and willing to devote their time and attention to business. But of this class ourr 
country cannot bear a large stock. 

TO PROFESSIONAL MEN. 

To the professional man we say that neither doctors nor lawyers are wanted. , 
We have already a sufficient stock; and, were it not that some of them have beeni 
wise enough to turn their attention to farming and stock-raising, a large number i 
would starve, for there is not business enough in our State to support them. 

PERSONS WHO OUGHT NOT TO EMIGRATE TO TEXAS. 

There are certain classes of men that we have no earthly use for: therefore they 
had better remain at home. This class is composed of politicians, office-seekers, 
pipe-layers, and fast young men, and drones of society. These latter gentry 
always dress in the height of fashion ; their hands are so white and soft that they 
are afraid to expose them to the sun and wind, and therefore never venture abroad 
without having them encased in a delicate kid glove. They are ordinarily loud 
talkers, verifying the old adage, that empty vessels make the greatest sound. Their 
heads serve no other purpose than that of a peg on which to exhibit the skilful 
handiwork of American hatters; their hearts are as hard as a cobbler's lap-stone, 
dead to all feeling but that of self-interest; their eyes are of no service except to 
admire the reflection of their figure when decked out by the unrivalled skill of our 
shionable tailors, and the height of their ambition is to lounge in front of a fashion- 
able hotel and attempt to stare modest women out of countenance. To such useless 
members of society — to such Miss Nancys — we say, broad and fertile as our State 
is, we really cannot find any room for j'ou. 

P 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 17 

TO TIIR LADIES. 

While giving advice to so many of my fellow-citizens, I must not neglect the 
ladie-, for I can assure you every Texiau is keenly alive to the influence exercised 
by Heaven's best gift to man, as is daily evinced 

In all the stages of domestic life, 

As parent, friend, child, or wife, 

Woman! that source of every fond employ, 

Softens affliction and enlivens joy. 

W^hat is your boast, male rulers of the land ? 

How cold, how cheerless all you can command ! 

Vain your ambition, vainer yet your power. 

Unless kind woman share your rapturous hour; 

Unless 'mid nature's beauty, or the glare of art, 

She add her smile and triumph in your heart. 
Ladies about emigrating to the Garden State will doubtless be anxious to know 
what they should leave behind, and what they should take with them. 

So far as y(U- furs and your opera-cloaks are concerned, leave them behind, as 
you will seldom have an opportunity to display them. The weather in Texas is 
never cold enough to make the use of the first agreeable; and the latter you will 
have no opportunity of displaying, as we have no Academy of Music. But as re- 
gards your blankets and your comfortables, your libraries and your family Bibles, 
pack them up carefully and bring them with you, for you will find them all of ser- 
vice to you in Texas. 

It ma}' appear somewhat out of place for so old a man as I am to say a single 
word on the subject of the ladies' dresses ; but I think I may presume upon the 
fact of being a grandfather, and, believing that hereaft r some of the ladies may 
thank me for the information, 1 cannot resist the temptation of gently whisper- 
g in your ear that you must take with you those elegant dresses, those exquisite 
lawls, those canning little bonnets I have so often admired while promenading 
Broadway. You will find use for them when j'ou visit our cities and towns, for I 
can assure 3'ou that our Tcxian ladies are as fond of rich and elegant attire as you 
are in the North. And although Queen Victoria, on the occasion of the celebra- 
tion of her daughter's marriage, ignored the wide-spreading crinolines, do you 
bring them with you, for in Texas there is plenty of room for them. 

I regret that I cannot promise you the splendid accommodations or the delights 
and luxuries of a Newport or a Saratoga; but you may enjoy the pure sea-breeze 
while driving along the firm and smooth beach of Galveston, which has no superior 
in the world, or you may visit our fine sulphur springs and be benefited by their 
health-restoring virtues. The climMte of the upper portion of Texas, where these 
•prings are situated, is so delightful and the air so pure, that young ladies 
preserve their bloom much longer in the upper regions of Texas than in most 
southern countries. Those of a more maiure age, (fur the ladies never grow passe 
,n Texas), after spending a year or two in that region of country, become almost 
young again, — at least they appear so. All this Ls to be attributed to the exhila- 
rating and invigorating nature of our climate. 

TO WIDOWS AND OLD MAIDS. 

I trust that neither the young ladies nor their mothers will take any offence 
if I give a little advice to the widows and the old maids, — although I do 
not suppose that in this assemblage of beauty there is to be found a decided 
jld maid. Still, supposing that there may be some of these ladies who are 
thinking of emigrating to our State, I deem it a solemn duty to inform their 
'riends that the gentlemen of Texas have always evinced a perfect horror at the 
jare idea of allowing the widow, and the old maid with her pet eat, to reside 
ong within the limits of their State. 

Our bachelors have entered into a solemn league to extirpate the whole race; and 
10 sooner are they informed of the arrival in any neighborhood of either one or the 
)thcr of these members of society, than they take the most energetic steps in their 
)ower to get rid of them, aud are generally successful in their endeavors. 



18 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 

Having first got rid of the cats, tbey obtain the necessary warrant from the 
county clerk, and, procuring the services of a minister of the gospel or of a 
justice of the peace, in an almost incredibly short space of time the ladies are 
compelled to renounce the cheerless state of single blessedness and are trans- 
ferred, without much inconvenience, to that of matrimony. 

Strange as it may appear, it is not more strange than true that ladies who have 
been treated in this summary manner seldom evince any reluctance or displea- 
sure. It will thus be seen that, instead of being crooked and cross-grained, as 
they are generally represented, they are either very good-natured or very patriotic, 
believing that in changing their condition they are certainly contributing their share 
toward the advancement of the interests of society and the prosperity of our country. 

TO HUNTERS AND SPORTSMEN. 

To the sportsman I would say that Texas affords a fine field for his operations. 
While in the settled portions of our State there is no lack of game, it is in the un- 
settled region of our territory that the real disciple of Kimrod must look for the 
true enjoyment of field-sports. In the upper portion of the northwestern section 
of Texas are to be found herds of buiialo, which will induce the adventurous 
American sportsman to explore this hitherto almost unknown region of Texas; 
and no sooner will the facilities for the prosecution of this exhilarating sport be- 
come known in Great Britain than there will be attracted to this section of coun- 
try many of those noble spirits who delight in the chase, and whose devotion to 
field-sports so often leads them to distant lands in quest of game more formidable 
and adventures more exciting than can be found in their native land. 

A BUFFALO-HtJNT. 

The exciting sports found in Africa, India, and on the upper waters of the Mis- 
sissippi may yet have to give way to the excitement and gratification attendant on 
a buffalo-hunt in Northwestern Texas ; for be it known to our Gallic and Celtic 
brethren, in whom the passion for wild sports is hard to overcome, that here they 
can gratify their inclination to the fullest extent. Herds not merely of hundreds 
but of thousands are to be met with; and such is the exhilarating nature of this 
sport that we have seen the phlegmatic German forget his sport and rush head- 
long into the chase. 

Having ourselves participated in the pleasures of a buffalo-hunt, we are aware 
that, whenever our mind dwells upon the exciting scenes we have passed through, 
we become oblivious of our every-day business and pleasures and wish but for an- 
other opportunity of again entering upon this exhilarating sport. 

THE PECCARY, OR MEXICAN HOG. 

There also may be found the peccary, or Mexican hog, — an entirely distinct spe- 
cies from the ordinary wild hog. Both are very ferocious, and afford fine sport 
in the chase. The flesh of the former is seldom eaten, being very strong ; but that 
of the latter is nearly equal to that of their more civilized brethren, whose flesh, 
although Father Moses has prohibited the use of it, is consumed in vast quanti- 
ties in our State, owing to the ease with which it can be preserved and transported. 

OTHER WILD ANIMALS. 

Deer and antelope abound here, and during the proper season afford a bountiful 
supply of sport and fresh meat to those who have energy and industry enough to 
participate in the chase; while wild ducks and geese, and the smaller birds, afford 
fine amusement to those who delight in the use of the fowling-piece. 

There arc other animals to be found here worthy of the attention of the sports- 
man, among which is the black bear, which during the proper season are very fat. 
as also the wild turkey. The breast of the latter, nicely fried in the oil of ihei 
former, would furnish a dish calculated to tickle the palate of a London alderman. 

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 

So far as the means of transportation are concerned, Texas must look solely to 
her works of internal improvement. The only one yet completed is the canal 
which connects the waters of Galveston Bay with those of the river Brazos. 



i 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 19 

It is true that we have many rivers on which hundreds of thousands of dollars 
have been spent, yet we believe that not one of our streams will ever be naviga- 
ble for a greater distance than sixty miles from the sea-coast towns, and therefore 
we must depend exclusively on railroads for the means of rapid transportation. 
Several roads are now under way, laid out in such a manner that they will nearly 
all intersect at the city of Houston, which will ultimately be the great railroad- 
centre of our State, whence the productions of Texas can be transported to Gal- 
veston, which possesses one of the best harbors south of New Orleans. 

HOUSTON AND TEXAS CENTRAL KAILUOAD. 

The Houston and Texas Central Railroad, designed to connect the city of Hous- 
ton with Red River, is already completed a distance of fifty miles to the town of 
Hempstead. This road will have several feeders, one of which, the Houston Tap 
Road, is already completed and is now iu active operation. The Houston Tap 
AXJ) Brazoria Railway, designed to connect this road with the rich sugar-region 
of Brazoria county, is fifty miles and five hundred feet in extent, and terminates 
on the east bank of the Brazos River oj^posite the town of Columbia. This road 
has already been graded forty miles, and will cross Oj'ster Creek on a bridge two 
hundred and fift}^ feet in length. The BreniIxVM Tap Railroad, which passes 
through the rich counties of Austin and Washington, has been commenced, and 
they are now pushing it rapidly onward. When the existence of these branch-roads 
is taken into consideration, together with the fact that the day is not far distant 
when this road will intersect the Great Southern Pacific Railroad somewhere on 
the parallel of the 32d degree, it will be seen that the Houston and Texas Central 
Railroad is destined to be of graat importance to Texas. 

THE BUFFALO BAYOU, COLORADO AND BRAZOS RAILROAD. 

The Buffalo Bayou, Colorado and Brazos Railroad has already in active opera- 
tion thirty-five miles, from Harrisburg, on Buffalo Bayou, to Richmond, on the 
Brazos River, and they are now vigorously pushing it forward toward the Colo- 
rado River, intending to strike that river at the town of Columbus. This road is 
destined to drain the rich valley of the Colorado, which will aflord an immense 
amount of business. 

THE GALVESTON, HOUSTON AND HENDERSON RAILROAD. 

The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad, whose terminus is situated at 
the most important sea-port in Texas, the city of Galveston, will in a short time 
be completed as far as the city of Houston, and will be the main stem of all the 
railroads of that section of the country. This railway will ultimately penetrate 
the State as far as Henderson, in Rusk county, and will be the moans of the trans- 
portation to the sea-board of millions of bushels of grain raised iu the heart of 
Texas, destined to find a market in the Northern cities or in Europe. As soon as this 
road is completed as far as the San Jacinto country, where it strikes the heavy 
pine forests, a large amount of fine pine lumber will be transported, via the city 
of Houston, to the prairie countries, where it will be made very valuable by the 
aid of the Central Railroad and her branches, aivl the Bulfalo Bayou, Colorado 
and Brazos Railroad. 

SAN ANTONIO AND MEXICAN GULF RAILROAD. 

This road, designed to connect Port Lavaca with the city of San Antonio, is 
now in process of construction, and is being rapidly pushed tjward completion. 
They have already graded twenty-five miles from Lavaca, and it will require 
but about SIX miles more to bring it to the flourishing town of Victoria. They 
have the iron laid on only five and a half miles, commencing at Lavaca, 
and although this road at present terminates in the open prairie, yet during the 
last winter it has done a very large business, far more than paying its current ex- 
penses. This is somewhat a. novelty, and I verily believe that it is the only 
instance on record where so short a road would pay even its current expenses, and 
plainly foreshadows its success, as it will drain a very important region of country. 



20 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 

THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

That most important of all railways, the Southern Pacific, completed on the 15th 
of February last the first twenty miles, from Lake Caddo to within five miles of 
the city of Marshal, thus securing the valuable charter of this road, which is des- 
tined to be of vital importance not only to Northern Texas, but to the whole Union. 
Thus this road is now entitled to sixteen sections of land for every mile they have 
completed and that may hereafter be completed. It has, under the provisions of 
the law authorizing the loaning the school-fund to railroad-companies, the right 
to deposit its bonds at par, together with a lien on the road, with the comptroller, 
and thus obtain six thousand dollars per mile at six per cent. 

It must be conceded that Texas has unoccupied more cotton-land within her 
limits than half the Southern States combined, capable of producing a larger 
quantity of cotton than is at present raised in the whole world. A large portion 
of this cotton-growing country is situated east of the Brazos River, and will con- 
sequently be tributary to this great railroad. 

There is one fact in connection with this road to which I must call your attention ; 
and that is, that Texas is the only State in the Union — nay, the only country in the 
world — where cotton can be successfully produced solely by white labor. Great 
Britain has spent millions of pounds sterling in her endeavor to find a country 
within the limits of her extensive territories where white labor can profitably raise 
this staple, but has hitherto been unsuccessful, and she is still compelled, not- 
withstanding her immense outlay of time and treasure, to draw the main portion 
of her supply of this important article from the Uneitd States. Those who visit 
that region of country must soon be convinced of its importance as a cotton-grow- 
ing country. 

The value of the country west of the river Brazos that will be drained by the 
Southern Pacific Railroad, as a grain-producing country, is incalculable; for the 
weevil and the rust have never disturbsd the crojis, and the winters are too mild to 
freeze out the roots, — the only casualty that has come to our knowledge being the 
frosts of April, 1857, cutting down the crop when about two feet high, which 
afterward sprung up anew, and even under these unfavorable circumstances pro- 
duced from 15 to 20 bushels of merchantable wheat to the acre, weighing from 
63 to 68 pounds per bushel, the usual yield being from 25 to 40 bushels per acre, 
and weighing as high as 72 pounds to the bushel. 

The value of the country north and west of the river Trinity, for raising horses, 
mules, sheep and horned cattle, cannot be estimated except by those who have 
seen it. The climate being mild, pasturage for such stock can be had during the win- 
ter months. It is worthy of note that ten thousand barrels of mess beef* were this 
season shipped from Cass county, through which this road passes, proving that 
packed pickled meats for actual shipments, which have heretofore been made on 
several occasions, are as merchantable as similar articles put up in any other por- 
tion of theUuion ; all that is necessary to foster this branch of industry is the early 
completion of this railroad so as to facilitate its transportation to market. 

An enterprise with such advantages and so liberally endowed by the State must 
be rapidly pushed forward. I traversed a country eight hundred miles in extent, 
on the only feasible route to the Pacific, as is proved by the surveys of the govern- 
ment and those of this company, and by our own knowledge of the climate and 
soil through which this route must pass. 

■ It is well known that Europe views this as the only feasible means to connect it, 
by the shortest passage, with China, Japan and the all-important gold-district of 
Australia. Immense as this trade is now, what must it be by the time this road 
is completed ? A railroad to the Pa?ific is regarded as absolutely necessary to 
the commerce of the world, and the leading minds of statesmen and merchants 
are directed to this end- So far as the face of the country is concerned, or 

* So 3 note Nc. 2. 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 21 

ho salubrity of the climate, through which this road must pass, I can say, from 
cular demonstration, that it is all that could bo wished for. 

During the last summer I had charge of a large surveying-party on the hcad- 
raters of the Colorado llivor, on about the line of the 32d degree. This party 
ras fitted out at the city of Austin, and in consequence of the low state of health 

was suffering under, occasioned by too close an application to business, I was 
ecompauied by my wife. Having provided her with a light buggy and a pair of 
orses, before we arrived at the frontier I was sufficiently recovered to leave her 
ndisputed possession of the buggy, it being necessary that I should perform the 
alance of the trip on horseback. Although we had now left the road and struck 
cross the country, she with her buggy was always foremost with the company, 
?-hile the heavily -loaded ox-wagons brought up the rear. And although both the 
■uggy and the wagons travelled hundreds of miles through the wilderness, they 
ever met with an hour's delay or a single accident; notwithstanding that we had 
enetrated as far as the Llano Estacado, from whence to the Pecos River there is 

perfectly level plain, thus plainly demonstrating the superior advantages of 
hat section of the country for railroad-purposes. With respect to the salubrity of 
he climate, our experience affords ample testimony that it can have no superior, as 
? evidenced by the improved condition of every member of our expedition, although 
or four months our blankets were our only couch, our saddles our only pillow, and 
he canopy of heaven our only roof. Our chief dependence for our living was tho 
ue fat venison which the prairies furnished us in great abundance. 

WATER-POWER. 

The upper portion of Texas furnishes an unlimited amount of water-power, inde- 
endent of that afforded by the San Antonio River, the St. Mark's, Hamilton's 
/'reek, and the Great Falls of the Colorado. These four localities present advan- 
ages seldom to be found so intimately combined. Here, with inexhaustible water- 
ower to drive any amount of machinery, we have the lands to produce all the cot- 
3n they require, without the trouble or expense of baling, shipping, compressing, 
nd without the charges attendant on shipment, such as freight, insurance, handling, 
harfage, and the endless etceteras to be found in bills of charges furnished by New 
"ork merchants to our planters, — as the cotton could be sent direct from the fields 
J the gin and factory. Besides this, innumerable flocks of sheej) could be raised 
1 the immediate vicinity of these points. While we could supply the factories 

th the raw materials, we could at the same time produce the bread and meat in 
lie immediate vicinity to sujiport the operatives ; and, what is quite as essential, 
re have a home market to absorb all the productions of a reasonable number of 
lills. Let those who are about investing their means in manufactories in the 
Northern States turn their attention to Texas, and examine for themselves the 
iiperior advantages we can offer, and we are satisfied that they will give our State 
he decided preference. 

GEOLOGY. 

As regards the geology of Texas at present there is but little known ; but the 
tate Legislature, at the session just closed, appropriated $20,000 for taking 
he initiatory steps toward a geological survey of our State, from which we anti- 
ipate important results in the development of the great mineral wealth of the 
;tate of Texas. 

In Guadalupe county both coal and hydraulic cement of very superior quality 
ave been found. In Bastrop county there has recently been discovered coal 
early equal in quality to the best Liverpool. 

In Young Land District, copper ore of extraordinary richness has been found, 

hich has been assayed by Professor Thomas, of New Jersey, and pronounced to 
e a sulphate of copper, with specimens intermixed of black oxide of copper. This 
re is very rich, containing 70 per cent, of copper, and is similar to that found in 
yous, France and at the Russian copper-mines. When dressed, this ore is esti- 
lated to be worth $550 per ton. These specimens were obtained on the waters of 
be Red River, and there is every indication that it exists in large quantities ; but 



22 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 

of course it must await the construction of the Pacific Railroad before it can bo 
made available. 

Near Hamilton, in Burnet county, there exudes, during the summer months, a 
kind of mineral tar, which is very rich in the active principles that constitute the j 
virtue of several mouicines. In the same county, at the Great Falls of the Colorado, j 
there are immense quantities of marble of very superior quality, white, black audi' 
variegated : a block of the white was sent on for the Washington Monument, and t 
was considered fully equal to the finest Italian. I 

On Salt Creek, in Lampasas county, Messrs. Swenson and Swisher have esta--' 
blished salt-works, and are now manufacturing sixty bushels a day of an excellent 
quality of salt. It is supposed that the amount can be considerably increased. 
There is also another salt-works in active operation in Llano county, owned andi 
managed by General Coffee. He has been making about thirty bushels per day;;! 
but, with a view of increasing his works, he is now boring an Artesian well. Ini 
the Rio Grande Valley is situated the great salt lake, where pure salt can beo' 
obtained without any trouble; and thousands of bushels have been carted to thatt 
portion of Mexico bordering on the Rio Grande. At the head of the Colorado 
River, during a trip that was made by my surveying-party last summer, extensiveo 
salt-deposits were found. 

In the southwest corner of Cass County, near the Harrison County line, about t 
eighteen miles from Jefferson, and twenty-five miles from the town of Marshall, a;i' 
valuable deposit of iron-ore has been found. Messrs. J. Nash & Co. are nowv, 
manufacturing over one thousand pounds of iron per day of that description knowm 
to the trade as the blooms, with a Catalan forge. The fuel at present used is- 
charcoal : any amount tliat may be required of this article can readily be obtained 1| 
from the immense pine forests in the neighborhood. The extent of this bed of;] 
iron-ore has not been fully established, but enough is known to stamp it as being,' 
a very important discovery, as the Pacific Railway will pass in the immediate 
neighborhood. 

THE INDIAN TRIBES. 

The Indians of Texas are divided into two distinct classes, the Northern Ca-' 
manche tribe, who roam over the wilds of Texas, and the more civilized Indians,-! 
the remnants of the Delaware, Caddo, Shawnee, Tahwaccaryos, Tonkahuas,, 
Southern Camanches, Waco, and other tribes, who now reside upon the Reserve,! 
situated on the upper waters of the Brazos River, and cultivate the soil. Thcseo 
tribes, who formerly were at war with each other, have buried the hatchet, and! 
now live together in harmony, profiting, as far as the red man can, by the arts of 
civilizatiun. This result is the fruit of the wise policy adopted by the United 
States Government, which has been so faithfully and energetically carried out by 
her indefatigable Indian agents. Major Neighbors and Captain Ross. 

Major Robert S. Neighbors was appointed by Gen. Sam Houston, while Presi- 
dent of the late Republic of Texas, and has been continued in ofiice from that date 
until the present time ; and, if tlie interest of the State of Texas and the welfare of 
the Indians be consulted, be Avill remain in oflSee for many years to come. Major 
Neighbors, with a truly philanthropic spirit, has, at his own expense, commenced 
tlie education of thirteen of these Indians ; and there can be no doubt that the grati- 
fication of witnessin J,- their great improvement will amply repay him for the outlay 
in this undertaking. Small as this commencement is, it may be the means of the 
United States Government becoming aware of the fact that educating the Indians 
is the surest method of conquering them. 

Among the civilized tribes are to be found many noble specimens of the 
Indian; and although Jack Conner, Caddo Jack, Jim Logan, Bill "Williams, iind 
a host of others, are known and- appreciated on the frontiers for their worth and 
fidelity, yet foremost in the ranks must be placed our friend John Jacobs, the 
guide, with whom we have travelled in company many hundreds of miles through 
the wilds of Texas ; and with pleasure we can testify to his eminent qualifications 
as a guide, his skill in woodcraft, his unquestionable integrity and bravery, and 
his abhorrence of falsehood. Indeed, he well deserves the title of the Indian geu- 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 23 

tleman, possessing as he does all the qualities requisite to substantiate a claim to 
that proud title. And since one may live in Texas for years, and never come in 
contact with the aboriginal inhabitants, except l)usiness or pleasure calls him to 
:he frontier, a few anecdotes of this man may not be devoid of interest iu this con- 
aection. 

In the summer of 1856, while I was on a surveying-party on the waters of the 
Upper Brazos, it became necessary -for Mr. S. M. Carter, with a company of seven 
men, to leave the rest of the party and run a connecting-line. Among this party 
was a son of mine; and John Jacobs Avas selected as the guide. 

Having completed their task, and it being too late that day to take up the line 
of march for the main pafty, they determined to encamp at a tine spring in a beau- 
tiful region of country ; and, with the forethought so characteristic of the true 
frontiersman, they selected a spot favorable for defence in case of an attack. The 
ttiajority of " the boys," after attending to the wants of their horses, made pre- 
parations for dinner: John Jacobs not being among them, they supposed that he 
jvas enjoying a siesta under the shade of some wide-spreading live-oak tree. In 
this supposition they were mistaken, however ; for John Jacobs had discovered 
" SIGNS," and had quit the camp in the prosecution of his duty as a spy. 

Mr. Carter, having gone to the spring for water, observed Jacobs as he was 
returning to the camp, beckoning to him to join him. He then told Mr. Carter 
;hat while at the spring he had been watched by two Camanches, who at one time 
were within two yards of him, and that there was a party of over sixty savages 
lurking in the neighborhood. 

This was indeed a serious position to be placed in ; and on consultation it was 
resolved to prepare quietly for the attack, but at the same time, if not attacked 
before dark, to endeavor to escape. So, having examined their arms, and having 
luxuriated on an ample dinner of wild turkey, bacon, fish and venison, they 
iwaited the approach of night. Believing that discretion was the better part of 
t^alor, and knowing the fearful odds against them, at eight o'clock they prepared for 
their retreat, and so quietly did they proceed that even the dog that had accompa- 
nied the party was not aware of their movements. Having muffled their horses' 
feet, and formed the company in Indian file, John Jacobs at their head, Mr. Carter 
bringing up the rear, every weapon so adjusted that in case of necessity it could 
immediately be brought into play, they proceeded a distance of a couple of miles, 
when, concealing the party in a thicket, with strict injunctions as to silence and 
watchfuhiess, .Jacobs, alone and on foot, returned to the old camp, to see if the 
Camanches had discovered their escape. Finding that they had not noticed their 
ieparture, he immediately retraced his steps, and was soon once more with the 
party. They removed the muffles from the feet of the horses, mounted them, and, 
Qotwithstanding the darkness of the night, without rest or refreshment, at a rapid 
rate continued their direct course over hill and dale, until the next morning at ten 
o'clock, when they discovered the fresh trail of the main party. Then, and then 
only, did they think of stopping to refresh themselves and their tired horses, having 
made a forced march of over sixty miles. Once only during their flight were they 
alarmed, which was in consequence of their faithful dog having followed their 
trail. During the afternoon they overtook the main party. The services of Jacob 
being again required, he declared that if he was provided with a fresh horse he 
was ready for duty. The horse was furnished, and the guide immediately set 
out, — a striking instance of the red man's extraordinary powers of endurance. 

At another time this man and six of his tribe, being out on a hunting-expedition, 
?.ame suddenly upon a party of over fifty Camanches. The latter, knowing well 
that the former were under the protection of the whites, and hating them with all 
the intenseness of passion so peculiar to the race, determined at one blow to extir- 
pate every vestige of this small band, and, with the view of putting them off their 
guard, invited the Delaware chief to gamble with them. Much to the astonish- 
ment of his men, Jacobs continued long at the game, apparently deeply absoi'bed. 
The Camanches were not aware that Jacobs perfectly understood their language, 
nl therefore spoke without reeerve of their designs, thus giving him full information 
)f thoir intention of attacking the Delaware camp before daylight and by one blow 



24 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 

destroying every vestige of their enemies. About midnight he quitted the game,. 
and, informing his braves of their perilous situation, determined not to wait for^ 
the attack of the Camanches, but to commence hostilities himself; and so effectuallyl 
did he carry out his plans that fifteen of them were sent to the happy huntini;;- 
grounds of their fathers. Of these seven fell by the unerring hand of Jacolis, 
among whom was the Camanche chief. 

Some two months after this adventure, while on another hunting-excursionj 
Jacobs, with a very small party of his men, fell in with a large band of CamancheSj 
who evinced much displeasure at the inroad of the Delawares on what they con- 
sidered their hunting-ground. The chief of the party advised him to withdraw, ai 
the Camanches were very angry, — at the same time inquiring if he knew who had 
killed his brother. Notwithstanding the disparity of numbers, Jacobs, scorning 
either to prevaricate or lie, drew himself up to his full height, and proudly informec 
him that by his hands his brother had fallen, and that his scalp now hung in his 
wigwam. The Camanche chief, struck with the fearlessness of the avowal, and 
dreading the consequences of an encounter, requested Jacobs to retire at once with 
his men, which he did, and returned to the Agency without loss of time. 

Another time, when with a party of surveyors on the upper waters of the Red 
River, they were surrounded by a band of Camanches from Arkansas. The sur- 
veyors, knowing that they were friendly with the people of that State, while with 
the people of Texas they were at enmity, requested Jacobs to say that they wera 
from Arkansas. This he at first indignantly refused to do, remarking, " Capitain, 
me no lie !" The surveyor still insisting on his doing so, knowing that the safety > 
of his party depended upon this stratagem, Jacobs finally consented, proudljji 
remarking that it was not him that lied: he only interpreted what the white mani 
said. 

A fact which demonstrates in a remarkable degree how the Indians appreciate t 
confidence in their honesty is, that Charles Barnard, Esq., at the Indian Agencyj 
has never locked up any portion of his premises, except the powder-magazine, i 
during the many years he has lived on the frontier, and yet has never had a singh i 
article stolen. And, although the Indians may sometimes be tardy in the pay 
ment of their debts, he is certain of their doing so ultimately. 

We trust that the day is not far distant when there will arise among us anotheii 
James Fenimore Cooper, or perchance a Longfellow, who, on becoming acquaintec 
with the achievements of these noble Indian chiefs, will, in the lofty prose of th( 
former or the soul-melting poetry of the latter, present to the world the noblt < 
achievements and hardy daring of these sons of the forest. 

As regards the Camanches their history is pregnant with arguments that alj I 
endeavors to improve their condition by civilizing them are not futile. They arq 
divided into two principal tribes, the Northern and Southern. The latter have with- 
in the last two years, through the instrumentality of the agents, been brought into 
the Reserve ; and they already manifest evident improvement, as they are natu- 
rally intelligent, and they evince a great anxiety to learn, — thus demonstrating the 
advantages attendant on judicious and kind treatment; while the Northern Caman-i 
che, unless similar steps are taken with them by the United States Governmenii 
Agents to bring them into a state of civilization, will continue to be as wild and aaj 
boundless as the plains over which he roams. He has no wants but those which 
can be supplied by the chase. His only ambition is to be able to cope with his 
enemy in war, and to steal horses, — of which animals he is passionately fondi 
No toil, no privation, does he conceive to be too great to obtain these animals! 
for every Camanche prides himself upon the number of horses he owns. Of thesi 
a source of peculiar pride is his war-horse, — which is always the fleetest an<| 
most powerful he can obtain, either by purchase or stealing. This animal hfl 
never mounts, except when going into battle or when in pursuit of the buffaloj 
These Indians indulge in polygamy ; and many of them own a dozen wiveB 
and several hundred horses, — these being the riches they crave. ] j 

FREE AND SLAYE LABOR. { | 

By a wise provision of our State Constitution, the institution of slavery has beer { ( 
guaranteed to Texas. Such being the case, Texians are proverbially jealous ol i 



i 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 25 

iii< 1 iirht, and will not allow any intermeddling with the subject, directly or indi- 
' ily. This, of course, is right; for, although slavery docs exist throughout the 
h"lv' extent of Texas, no man need own slaves, or even employ them, except he 
,11(1^ it to his interest. All that is asked of the non-slaveholder is tliat he shall 
ursue the even tenor of his way, mind his own business, and leave his neighbors 

attend to theirs, — a course of conduct which we would all strangers visiting a 
ew country. 

In all our remarks on this subject we wish it distinctly understood that our feel- 
3gs and education have alwaj-s been pro-slavery. Still, though in the matter of 
he employment of slave-labor we have always made it a rule to emi)loy it when 
re consider it advantageous to ovir interest, on the other hand, whenever we find 
t to our advantage, we make use of free labor. A\''e therefore consider that it is 
ur right and our duty to throw all the light upon this subject in our power. 

We know well that, so far as Texas is concerned, there are agi-icultural pursuits 
hat can be most advantageously carried on by the aid of slave-labor; while, on the 
ther hand, there are branches in which the employment of free labor will be found 
lost remunerative. This being the case, labor, like every other marketable com- 
aodity. will always regulate its price ; and there are few men indeed who, when 
hey find out which description of labor is most profitable, will not employ it, if 
hey can command it. 

As regards the sugar-region of our State, it would be the height of folly for any 
•ue, no matter how extensive his means may be, to attempt the production of sugar 
without the aid of slave-labor ; for there is a peculiarity attendant on the labor 
lecessarily involved on a sugar-plantation that renders the employment of slave- 
abor imperative. Therefore that branch of industry is closed to all who will not 
imploy slave-labor. But, as the cultivation of sugar can only be successfully 
sarried on by the investment of large means, and as we do not write for men of 
hat class, we shall proceed at once to the investigation of this subject as applicable 
those branches of industry in which the amount of capital required givesevery 
nan of moderate means the power to prosecute them successfully. 

So far as cotton-planting is concerned on any thing like a large scale, there is no 
ioubt that slave-labor will always be found highly profitable in Texas, — as it is a 
svell-established fact that, owing to the salubrity of our climate, the mortality 
among slaves is very light. But the fact that those who employ slave-labor find 
that it is profitable for them to do so is no proof that free labor may not on a 
pmaller scale be equally remunerative ; and we can with confidence assert that 
such is substantially the fact. The cultivation of cotton requires very little 
Jabor compared with what is necessary in gathering the crop. The picking of the 
(article demands far more hands than its cultivation ; and, it being compai-atively a 
light species of work, every member of the family — even the children, as soon as 
(they arrive at an age at which it is proper for children to work — may be profitably 
jemployed. There is therefore no good reason why this important article cannot 
■be successfully cultivated bj^ means of free labor; although we verily believe that 
[this is the only State in the Union in which the climate will admit of this branch 
jof industry being prosecuted successfully by the aid of white labor, 
i The vast improvements made within the last few years in agricultural implements 
ihave made the cultivation and preparation for market of cereals a comparatively 
(light task. Although slave-labor can be made valuable in this branch of industry, 
^t is our opinion that that portion of our territory which is best adapted to the 
jcultivation of cereals will be settled by the farmer of small means, dependent upon 
[his own labor, assisted at intervals by the employment of one or two white assist- 
jants, or, perhaps, slaves. 

1 But there are branches of farming in which slave-labor can be most successfully 
^dispensed with : one of these is that of ' raising stock of every description, 
ssuch as horses, mules, sheep, hogs and horned cattle, which require more care and 
attention — and, we may add, intelligence — than is generally to be found among the 
negro race, — although we know a few such colored men as Gen. Pitts's Peter and 
Captain Ross's Olmstead, whose judgment is surpassed, so far as regards the care 

Jof animals of every description, by that of very few white men. 



26 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 1 

The day is not far distant when the cultivation of the grajie and the manufacture \ 
of wine will be a very important branch of industry in Northern and Western 
Texas ; and here slave-labor will be found of but little value. This, together with 
the cultivation of the castor-bean and the manufacture of castor-oil, will have to 
be done almost entirely by white labor. To these may be added the business of the 
market-gardener, the orchardist and the dairyman, — all of which can be prosecuted 
most successfully by the aid of free labor. 

We have employed both slave and free labor, and are well satisfied that, where ^ 
it can be procured, the latter is decidedly cheaper to the small farmer than the 
former. The only drawback is the extreme scarcity of the latter, which can only 
be obtained to any extent in the neighborhood of New Braunfels and other German 
settlements, and the difficulty of retaining it when procured. This is indeed a 
serious drawback, but one which time will ultimately remove ; and the day is, per- 
haps, not far distant when the beautiful prairies in the northern and western por- 
tions of our State will be successfully cultivated by farmers dependent upon their 
own family labor, assisted by one or "two free laborers, or, perhaps, slaves. 

The principal cause of white labor not being reliable is the facility with which 
any man of temperate and industrious habits can obtain lands and go to farming 
on his own account. This drawback, it will be seen, is only an index of the advan- 
tages that Texas offers to the industrious immigrant; for it is not long before he 
can, by the aid of industry and attention to business, become an employer, instead 
of remaining all his life — as is too often the case in the old country — a mere laborer, 
dependent on his employer; for it is certainly characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon 
race, particularly as soon as they become acquainted with the institutions of our 
country, to enter into business on their own account. 

In speaking of the cultivation of cotton, we made the assertion that Texas is the 
only Southern State whose climate will admit of white labor being successfully 
emi^loyed in out-door pursuits. Without fear of contradiction, and under a deep 
sense of the responsibility we assume toward our fellow-creatures, we assert that 
white labor can be successfully employed in the upper portion of Texas, with- 
out any extraordinary risk of life : all that is necessary is that those engaged in 
out-door employment should go to work very early in the morning and continue 
until ten or eleven o'clock, then rest until three iii the afternoon, and then labor 
until sundown, and, in addition, be temperate in their diet and sparing in the use 
of spirituous liquors and tobacco. By observing these simple rules, they will be 
quite as long-lived as they would be in the Northern States or in Europe ; for it 
should be borne in mind that very rarely are cases of consumption to be found 
originating in our State, while the effects of the climate on those who are already 
tainted with this disease are always most beneficial, provided the malady has not j 
gained too firm a foothold before their arrival in the State. 

In making these remarks, we wish it to be distinctly understood that we refer to 
the northern and western portions of Texas, with which we are intimately ac- 
quainted; but we believe that our remarks are applicable to all portions of Texas, 
except directly upon the seaboard. 

The same course that we have recommended to the farmer should be pursued by , ^ 
those who immigrate and follow out-door mechanical pursuits. Besides farmers |!j 
and graziers, we are satisfied that carpenters, masons, millers, blacksmiths, wheel- ' j ^ 
Wrights and machinists would do well to pay our State a visit with a resolu- i 
tion to make it their future home. With industry, sobriety and a fixed deter- ! J 
mination to do their duty as good citizens, all who have to earn their bread by || 
the sweat of their brow cannot fail in laying by a competency for old age. [I 

ORGANIZED EMIGRATION. | » 

But, I think I hear you say, if I could take with me my friends, my church, the ; Ji 

school-house, my social enjoyments and my fireside pleasures, I would be delighted I ft 

to avail myself of the natural advantages which Texas affords. But hold, my Id, 

friends; in the improvements of these latter days, the subject of immigration has \ 

not been forgotten. While steam-power is now 'applied in a thousand forms that a ! ly 
few years since were unknown,— while two persons, the one in New Orleans, the 



t 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 27 

)thcr at Portland, Maine, may now perform the miracle of conversing with each 
Dthcr, through the medium of the lightnings of heaven, as familiarly as they could 
W standing face to face. — and while the art of printing has heeu brought to such 
perfection as to enable us to embody the news of one-half tlic world in the daily 
ewspapers which are circulated by hundreds of thousands throughout this vast 
[*ountry. — a feat that our forefathers would have considei-ed miraculous, — so that 
the news of the morning may be read, ere the next sunrise, at a distance of more 
ban a thousand miles from the place of publication, — while all these improvements 
tire going forward, American genius and enterprise have discovered a new method 
bf relieving emigration to the more remote portions of our country from the difficul- 
ties and misfortunes incident to the work of the pioneer of twenty years ago. 
Through the instrumentality of Emigrant- Aid Societies, the formation of commu- 
ities and the erection of villages, cities, counties, and even States, possessino- all 
the arts of civilization and the refinements of old settled countries, are attained in 
miraculousW short space of time, — a few years only being required to combine 
nto one harmonious whole those commercial, agricultural, manufacturing and 
ocial interests which give to the State a position as firm and proud as that occupied 
ven by the old empires of Europe, over whose heads centuries have passed. In- 
tanee California and Australia. Commercial enterprise has, in the short space of 
ve years, reared those countries as it were into mighty empires, with cities that 
ival, in magnificence, population and wealth, evenA'^enice or Rome in their palmiest 
lays of prosperity. San Francisco and Melbourne now rank among the largest 
ities of the earth : ten years since, the ordinary student of geography was scarcely 
ware of their existence. But T need not wander so far from home, since I may 
oint to the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, as striking instances 
f the power of organized emigration. What nobler monuments of human enter- 
rise could exist than the thriving cities of Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukie and St. 
iPaul's? — indexes directing the emigrant of the present day on the road to the pros- 
Iperity and independence which lie but a few years in the future, nav, which are 
directly in his pathway so soon as his steps are turned toward the State of Texas. 
[Look at the State of Kansas, for thus we may style her: notwithstanding the poli- 
tical trials and difficulties she has encountered, the inclemency of her climate, the 
limited range of her productions, with all these, nay, many more disadvantages, 
which we need not now enumerate, — even there the principle of organized emigra- 
tion has dispL\yed its power, and in a very short time the wilderness has been con- 
verted into comfortable habitations for men, and made to " blossom as the rose.'' 

Although she was baptized in blood and her growth has been retarded by the 
most sanguinary struggle ever witnessed within our borders in the organization of 
a new State, with the history and causes of which you are familiar, still, in the short 
space of three years she has risen, in the face of all these difficulties, from the condi- 
tion of a wild waste to the dignity of a full-grown and powerful State, and is now 
knocking at the door for admission into our Confederacy. The clouds that have 
obscured the morning of her existence are fast breaking away; for the sun of pros- 
perity is beginning to shed upon her its revivifying beams. Such has been the 
efiect of organized emigration even in that comparatively unpromising region of our 
country. Now, let fifty New England, Pennsylvania or New York farmers, and 
as many more mechanics, tradesmen and artisans, form a joint-stock company and 
purchase 8,000 or 10,000 acres of land in one of the desirable localities that I have 
described to you as existing in Texas ; and let each of these families contribute 
a small sum of money to make a fund to build suitable reception-houses on the point 
selected as the site of a village, on their own tract of land, and send out in advance 
a band of mechanics to erect these buildings and collect the necessary provisions 
and supplies for the use of the colony while they are raising their first crop. When 
these preliminaries are ari'anged, let this colony of a hundred families pack up their 
Farming-implements and their mechanical tools, the merchants their groceries and 
dry-goods, the printer his type and his press, the teachers their sehool-books and 
maps, their philosophical and chemical apparatus, the clergyman his theological 
library, — and, when all these things are arranged, charter a vessel at New York to 
convey them to Galveston or Port Lavaca, — directing those who have gone before 



28 J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 

to have the wagons and teams at the point at which the means of public convey- 
ances are wanting, — for, owing to the rapid improvements daily taking place in 
Texas, it would be impossible to say positively three months in advance where that 
point would be. By attending to these instructions, all the difficulties in the way of< 
immigration to our State would bo entirely removed. 

At the expiration of a voyage of two or three weeks, your happy community 
would be safely landed on Texian soil ; a week or ten days' laud-travel, during which 
you can taste the delights of a camp-life, will bring you to the sjoot that is to be 
your future home and the home of your children. All hands at once set to work, 
ei-ecting houses and arranging for the crops ; the farmer builds his log-cabin on his 
eighty-acre tract, and the tradesman and the mechanic erect their buildings upon 
the site selected as the village. Thus will be laid the foundation of a prosperous 
colony. 

Let us suppose that a single year has elapsed, and again we look in upon the 
colony. How changed is the scene ! A church, a school-house, a hotel, stores, 
mechanics' Avorkshops, farm-buildings, in short, all the appliances of civilization, 
are to be seen on every hand. The tables are comfortably supplied with the luxu- 
ries which the fertile and willing soil has produced under the influence of skilful 
hands. They have their elections, church and school-meeting, social gatherings, 
lyceums, local newspaper, post-office, and, above all, friends, associates, and homes. 
Need I say that, with these appliances, together with cheerfulness and health, they 
must indeed enjoy the sweets of a happy life? 

The land that has cost, then, but a trifle, through patient industry has, perhaps, 
been entirely paid for, and has in consequence of cultivation increased in value 
perhaps tenfold. The inhabitants review the incidents connected with their change 
of residence as a pleasant romance, and feel an honest pride in the reflection that 
they have not only provided a home for their families, but, perhaps, laid the founda- 
tion of a future city, or, at least, a prosperous county. 

By this simple process it is one of our purposes to labor for the glory and pros- 
perity of Texas. Through the agency of Clark and Faulkner, No. 16 Wall Street, 
New York, all the features of this plan can be obtained and the necessary lands 
purchased for the establishment of these colonies. 

Let colonies locate in the vicinity of each other, and in a few years a vast region 
of country may be densely populated, and happiness, prosperity and wealth be 
obtained by thousands who are now taxing their energies to the utmost ; and for 
what ? Merely to provide coarse food and raiment for their families, and who are 
satisfied if they can at the close of the year make the two ends meet, though well 
they know that each succeeding year renders them less able to struggle for a liveli- 
hood, and that the result inevitably must be that they either become dependent 
upon their children or will be the inhabitants of the poor-house. Such being the 
case, my hearers, would it not be better for those thus situated, while they have health 
and strength and are in the possession of all their faculties, to arouse their energies 
and at once take the initiatory steps towards emigrating to a new country, where 
they are certain, by exercising for a few years only the same industry, prudence 
and economy that they are now doing, to be rewarded by a competency whereby 
they can enjoy their old age free from care, and, instead of becoming a burden upon 
their children, will have the satisfaction of assisting them on the high road to 
preferment, wealth and happiness ? 



It is proverbial all the world over that editors and printers are the poorest and 
most discontented of men; yet, as I have found among my own neighbors an iso- 
lated instance to the contrary, I will, ladies and gentlemen, conclude this lecture 
with a short extract from a letter from that distinguished editor and printer, 
George Wilkins Kendall, of the New Orleans Picayune, to one of his friends : — 

" I am enjoying the finest health. I have here, at my frontier home among the 
mountains, grown young again. I have pasturage for 20,000 sheep, and any num- 
ber of cattle, and to see all this space covered with them is what I am working 
for. I do not bother my head about Kansas, or brother Brigham Young, or poli- 



J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 29 

ics of any kind; don't care who is President; fear God, but hate the Indians for 
tealing my horses ; am perfectly indifferent about Walker and the devil ; try to 
cc]) my feet warm and my head cool, and smoke my pipe in peace with all man- 
ind." 
And, with your kind permission, will close this lecture with the concluding re- 
oark of his letter; — '' What do you think of it?" 

Philadelphia, May 22, 1858. 



30 NOTES TO J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 



NOTES, 



NO 1. 

The following extract of a letter from George "Wilkins Kendall, editor of tlie 
New Orleans Picayune, to the compilers of the Texas Almanac for 1851, will fully 
corroborate our statements upon this subject, and is well worthy of perusal by all 
persons interested in sheep-husbandry. It is taken from pages 134, 135, 136 of 
that valuable work, published by W. & D. Richardson, News Office, Galveston j — 

*' I will now give such poor advice as I am able to offer those of your readers as 
may contemplate going into the sheep-raising business. I would first recommend 
them to seek a high, dry and healthy location, whei-e grass is short and as fine as 
possible, water clear and handy, and the entire range free from low and wet 
marshes or extensive hog-wallow prairies. They should next erect suitable shed^ 
to shelter their flocks from the cold, wet, sleety northers of winter. A small outlay; 
will do this. It would also be well for them to cut a few tons of hay, to cure and' 
salt it well, and stack it up at a point where it can be fed out handily during a 
severe storm of sleet or snow. No such storm might come, and the hay might not 
be needed; yet it would be more prudent to have it in case of necessity. The shed 
should be built at some point on a hill-side, on dry and sandy ground if possible, 
and protected naturally from the north winds ; it should overlook a valley intended 
for a garden or for cultivation, where the wash would materially increase the fer- 
tility of the soil. Pens should be constructed in the vicinity, to be moved often. 
I change my sheeji to fresh ground every ten or fifteen days, thus improving theiii 
health while manuring more land, — important items, both. 

" Being now prepared to pasture, pen and shelter a flock, the next business is to 
purchase it, — no easy matter at this time in this section, where every owner of 
sheep, satisfied that the stock is profitable, is disposed to hold on. Along the Rio 
Grande, or in the interior of Mexico beyond, a person might pick up a flock oi 
ewes at $1 50 each; they formerly sold at $1, but I am told they have increased 
in price. They might be driven here at an expense of say 25 cents ea h, whicb 
would bring up the cost of a flock of 1,000 to $1,750. Or suppose a persoE 
should go to the western part of Arkansas, or the southwestern portion of Mis-j 
souri ; there a flock of common American ewes (far better stock to commence with' 
than Mexican) might be got together, which, when driven to this section, should^ 
not cost more than $2 25 each, or $2 50 at the outside. At these rates — say the 
latter — a flock of coarse American ewes, 1,000 in number, would cost $2,500, and 
would be better worth that price, to my thinking, than a flock of Mexican at $1,750, 
as they are larger, more hardy, and better coated with wool. 

"Now, whether the person engaging in the business has purchased Mexican oi 
common American ewes of the number specified, his next care is to select bucks 
and here he cannot take too much pains, nor well go to too much expense. Froufi 
my own experience I should recommend pure merinoes. I may be prejudiced, bui 
I would not take the gift of any other stock. They are the hardiest, the healthiest 
the most gentle, the easiest managed, the heartiest feeders, nurse their young bettei 
than any other breed, and are the longest livers. More than this, and more im 
portant than all, they shear three times as much wool as the common Americar 
stock, and five or six times more than the Mexican, at the least calculation, whil< 
each i^ound is worth nearly double as much. The evidence of what can be done bj 
crossing I have already shown in the yearling wethers. I have mentioned thre( 
removes from an old Mexican ewe which sheared 1 pound of wool, which, las 
spring, gave me over 7 pounds. This is a fact which cannot too often be repeatec 
in the ears of those about to engage in wool-growing. Pure merino bucks, fron 
well-known flocks, may be purchased in Texas at from $50 to $75 each. Choic* 
animals would probably command a higher price. Fifteen good bucks would b< 



NOTES TO J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 31 

sufficient for a flock of 1,000 ewes, although twenty would perhaps secure a stronger 
and more numerous increase. 

"We all know how delusive profits ordinarily turn out; yet I think if a person 
will follow, in the main, the plan I have suggested, he may hope to realize hand- 
somely fiom an iuAestmcut. I Avill here give a statement, and allow a wide margin 
for losses : — 

Cost of 1.000 American ewes, at $2 50 each .$2,500 

" 15 Merino bucks, at $50 each 750 

Total capital invested $3,250 

Interest on above, at 10 per cent $325 

Cost of hiring and feeding shepherd 275 

" salting the sheep 50 

Expenses at shearing-time, and other extras 50 

Total cost ofvjieeping, &g $700 

Value of 2,000 pounds of wool from ewes, at 20 cents per pound ... $400 
" 150 " " bucks, at 30 cents per pound .. 45 

" increase in the flock, say 700, at $3 each 2,100 

Total receipts $2,545 

Deduct from this cost of keeping, &c 700 

And we have a clearprofiit of $1,845 

''This is a tolerably fair business, as any one will say, and I think that I have 
allowed liberally for losses. With such luck or success as I have had during the 
two last lambing-seasons, the increase should be nearer 900 than 700. I have put 
down the amount and value of the wool at low figures, as well as the value of the 
increase; for it should be borne in mind that at least 350 of the lambs should be 
ewes, which I should esteem cheap at $4 00 each when one year old; while f:it 
wethers, after being shorn in the fall, readily command $2 50 and $3 00 each in 
San Antonio, for mutton. But as the increase, all half-merinoes. should average 
4 lbs. of wool each, it would be more profitable to keep the wethers until aged: at 
least, such is my impression. I have neglected to take into account that in one 
sense a man's capital is to an extent compounding; for it is to be presumed that 
any one entering the business would keep all his ewe-lambs for breeding." 



NO, 2. 

Heretofore it has been supposed that the immense herds of cattle raised, and to 
be hereafter raised in Texas would find a market only with the drover, whose busi- 
ness it would be to purchase Texas cattle and drive them to the Northern and West- 
ern States; but on investigation we find that such will not be the case. It is trtie 
that the generality of beef-packers have not succeeded in producing an article of 
MESS BEEF that would bear inspection in the foreign market; yet we are pleased to 
find that the celebrated Mr. B. F. Pennimax, of Cincinnati, has succeeded, by a 
long and careful series of experiments, in surmounting all difficulty hitherto expe- 
rienced. He has prepared a practical work on salt provisions, which is now in 
course of i^ublication by 0. M. Moore, Fulton Street, New York, when every farmer, 
by following his directions, can, without doubt, put up and export their surplus 
meat, thereby opening a new field for Texian enterprise. We have taken the liberty 
of subjoining a letter recently received from Mr. B. F. Penniman, which is as follows : — • 

Dear Sir : — 

Last fall carried me to Cass County, Texas, for the purpose of ascertaining 
what could be done in the way of curing by salting the flesh of the cattle of that 



32 NOTES TO J. DE CORDOVA'S LECTURE. 

country, by way of experiment. As you are doubtless well aware, the cattle ol 
Texas are not so large as the crossed stock of the North, having long and cleai 
horns, very uniform in shape, with long and broad necks, varying in color, arc 
Spanish in their breed, and emphatically belong by nature to the soil and climate 
in which they are found, 

Their place of range is the prairies of Texas. Their food is the mezquite-grass' 
of the country, which, containing more saccharine substance than any other wild 
grass known, necessarily makes sweet and tender beef. The peculiarities of the 
Texas cattle are, that when taken away from their native grasses they will not eat 
any other kind of food, or even drink water. Corn, oats, or any other kind of grain 
or grasses, have no temptations for these cattle. It may be asked. What is to 
become of the thousands of cattle now in Mexico and Texas as an article of com- 1 
merce? My answer is, Save the hides and tallow, and salt the flesh. But this caaJ 
be done in no other place than on their native soil ; for so soon as the cattle arcw 
removed (for the reasons I have before stated) they fall off in flesh, and the meafi,' 
becomes totally unfit for salting-purposes. That beef can be cured to a large ex- 
tent in Texas is perfectly feasible ; but to do it well and save the meat you must 
be fully prepared, and understand its management in every department thoroughly.- 
The experiment carried out the past season in Texas proved that beef would take 
salt and could be saved readily, though the climate is much warmer than the North.i 

For candle-making and other purposes there is no tallow in this country, or 
any other, that I know of, like that of the Texas cattle. This is a very important 
item, and gives a higher value to it, when understood, than any other. The reason, 
for this is that grass-fed cattle make the best tallow, being free from oils, and con-j 
sequently containing more stearine, which is wanted, making it much more profit- 
able. Corn, <fec., make rich and oily tallow. 

Texas will ultimately become the Chicago of the South for packing beef j but 
its salting and management must be first understood. 

B. F. PENNIMAN. 

New York, April 21, 1858. 

By an examination of the books of an experienced packer, we have prepared th(| 
following table, which will convey much valuable information 

Year. 

1847, '48 

1848, '49 

1849, '50 

1850, '51 
1853, '54 
1856, '57 

Mr. Penniman, who packed these 10,000 barrels of beef during the months c 
November, December and January, 1858, found that the average net weigh 
of cattle slaughtered by him in Texas, suitable for packing as mess-beef, was 60 
pounds ; the weight of the wet salted hides was 80 pounds. These hides, owing t 
the feed of the animals, are highly prized where peculiarly strong leather is re 
quired, such as for the purpose of making belt, <fec. The tallow, which is very firir 
contains a large amount of stearine, and but little, 



THE END 







Average 


Cos* per 


Place. 


No. of cattle. 


net weight. 


pound. 


Cincinnati, 


2,500 


746 


$8 30 


Cincinnati, 


3,000 


691 


8 00 


Cincinnati, 


400 


686 


8 50 


Maysville, 


1,200 


730 


9 87 


Indiana, 


1,000 


537 


7 60 


Louisville, 


2,000 


670 


12 80 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





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